Best Middle Schools in California

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Find the best California middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

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School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 2760)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
661	Gold River Discovery Center K-8	Public	K-8	2200 Roaring Camp Dr.	Gold River	95670	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-5349	712	30	23.4	31.2%	414 (58.1%)	20 (2.8%)	135 (19.0%)	56 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.7%)	82 (11.5%)	$15,695			$1,931			$13,764	70.5	69	702	41		063462002560
662	Summerwind Trails	Public	K-8	1020 Poinsettia Cir.	Calimesa	92320	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 845-1631	1,107	46	23.8	51.6%	265 (23.9%)	91 (8.2%)	590 (53.3%)	85 (7.7%)	5 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	70 (6.3%)	$18,449			$1,889			$16,560	70.5	39.5	1481	819		060429014572
663	Jefferson Elementary	Public	K-8	2508 East 133rd St.	Compton	90222	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 898-6190	642	24	27.2	86.9%	1 (0.2%)	22 (3.4%)	613 (95.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	$21,237			$3,281			$17,956	70.5	52	1108	445		060962000983
664	Sequoia Middle	Public	6-8	265 Boyd Rd.	Pleasant Hill	94523	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 934-8174	882	34	25.7	50.1%	216 (24.5%)	27 (3.1%)	337 (38.2%)	164 (18.6%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	134 (15.2%)	$1,025			$407			$618	70.4	78	527	137		062637008916
665	Dr. Walter C. Ralston Intermediate	Public	7-8	10851 East Lampson Ave.	Garden Grove	92840	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6366	485	21	22.6	81.6%	23 (4.7%)	4 (0.8%)	257 (53.0%)	185 (38.1%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	13 (2.7%)	$23,244			$4,473			$18,771	70.4	71.7	660	5		061488001856
666	Cabrillo Middle	Public	6-8	1426 East Santa Clara St.	Ventura	93001	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 641-5155	936	32	29.4	46.7%	465 (49.7%)	10 (1.1%)	370 (39.5%)	33 (3.5%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	52 (5.6%)	$15,971			$1,414			$14,557	70.3	68.5	711	45		064098006749
667	Thomas Law Reed Elementary	Public	K-8	1400 North Frankwood Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7300	558	22	25	85.7%	37 (6.6%)	1 (0.2%)	491 (88.0%)	10 (1.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.0%)	$16,110			$826			$15,284	70.3	59.8	893	226		061970010781
668	Valentine Peyton Elementary	Public	K-8	2525 Gold Brook Dr.	Stockton	95212	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7420	787	30	25.9	64.8%	23 (2.9%)	55 (7.0%)	331 (42.1%)	320 (40.7%)	3 (0.4%)	9 (1.1%)	45 (5.7%)	$16,203			$3,327			$12,876	70.3	83	419	249		063801012085
669	California Virtual Academy San Mateo	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	California Virtual Academy San Mateo District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,136	42	26.9	59.9%	232 (20.4%)	111 (9.8%)	496 (43.7%)	176 (15.5%)	9 (0.8%)	35 (3.1%)	77 (6.8%)	$10,730			$421			$10,309	70.2	56.1	988	319		060180211787
670	Itliong-Vera Cruz	Public	6-8	31604 Alvarado Blvd.	Union City	94587	Alameda County	New Haven Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 489-0700	1,097	48	22.7	53.5%	67 (6.1%)	37 (3.4%)	210 (19.1%)	683 (62.3%)	5 (0.5%)	22 (2.0%)	73 (6.7%)	$13,603			$611			$12,992	70.2	71.4	664	6		062691004066

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

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About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 9, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.